Tag Archives: new house

Stronger and Better

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If you’ve been following my blog, you know that my Dad suffered a fall and heat stroke on July 4th. I was worried that he would be leaving this world. I was not sleeping or eating. I was a nervous wreck. A lot of drama happened. It was exhausting.

I was back and forth to the hospital in our car, which was in dire need of repair. I didn’t know how bad it actually was until several weeks later! When my sister and I were finally able to take the car in, we were told that it was too dangerous to drive and that we were lucky to have made it there! We were urged NOT to drive it home (they wouldn’t be able to get it done in the short time left in the day), and we were promptly given a ride home. The bands in the tires were twisted, and one was ready to explode! A rod was bent, and some other crazy shit I was not expecting. I mean, you can’t tell by looking at the car, but Dad and I regularly take it in for check-ups, tune-ups, oil changes, and all that good stuff. I can’t understand why it was so bad. Anyway, the problem has been fixed. The bill was a whopping $1,371.52!!

Next, the a/c has been out of commission for a couple of years, and Dad never wanted to spend the money on it. Ok, I get it. But now, after Dad’s heat stroke, it needs to be fixed! I cannot take him to his appointments in this heat! I took it in a week ago to have them look at it. Instead of it being the condenser (as we were told by another mechanic), it turned out to be the evaporator. I had to bring the car home again, with no a/c because they need all day to get it done. That will cost another $1,300 or more because they have to pull out the dash, and the whole process is a huge job. I am bringing the car in first thing in the morning and getting a loaner because there’s no way I’m sitting there all day long! Then, I have to get a safety inspection on the car. Does this shit never end?!

Dad has weekly visits from a Home Health Nurse, Physical Therapist, and Occupational Therapist. He has really come a long way since he first came home. He stands on his own and walks with a walker. He’s really bored out of his skull because he can’t do anything without me or my sister. He’s not quite ready for that. He has a little ways to go, and then he will be able to sleep in a real bed instead of that stiff and uncomfortable hospital bed. I’d say a few more weeks, and then my son can come get the damn thing.

With my sister’s help, the living room can go back to the way it was, and I can get the bedroom ready for Dad. I’ll wash the bedding and remove some boxes of stuff. I know he’s ready to sleep in a real bed!

I called a couple of guys to come look at the new house. Since the first guy decided that other jobs were more important than finishing ours, I had no choice but to seek out other contractors. One guy came out yesterday. He knows our remaining budget and thinks he can get the house livable for us. The other guy will come by this weekend. Maybe between the two, we will be ready to move into our new home in a couple of months. I guess that will also depend on when they can start.

I can honestly say, while Dad is getting stronger and better, so am I. I refuse to ask certain people for help. I will never ask for help again just to have things thrown in my face later. I don’t need people in my life who pull that petty shit with me.

I will keep you all posted! With any luck, 2025 will end with us getting some good luck instead of bad for a change!

Until next time,

New House Update

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Well, folks… The interior of the new house has been painted and it looks great! I forgot to take photos the last time I was out there because my daughter and her crew came for an unexpected visit. I took them out to see the house because they hadn’t seen it in such “nearly finished” condition.

It’s time to pick out flooring and we decided a while back that we were going to use vinyl plank flooring. We also decided on a “wood look” but not too dark and not too light. Well… That shit is expensive! Anywhere from $4000 to $6000 for the flooring and not counting labor. Holy crap. Dad wants to go to Lowe’s to look at the flooring in person because it’s hard to choose online. Going to Lowe’s would be fine except for the fact that the a/c in our car doesn’t work and it’s an hour drive from our house! When we go out, even if it’s just a curbside order at Walmart, Dad gets overly tired and over heated so he ends up falling at some point after we get home.

A couple of weeks ago, Dad fell 3 times in one day! He fell last night while getting ready for bed. One of these times, he’s going to get hurt. I worry about him so much. I desperately need the house finished and my sister here to help me. I’m trying to be patient.

Nothing else new here; My furbabies are fine and still pains in my you-know-what, I’m still amongst the living, and I’m…still…crazy. Hahaha!

I’m Still Kickin’

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In case you were wondering, I am still alive and…not so well but that’s beside the point. I’m alive and kicking. Still pushing through, being patient, biting my tongue, and waiting. Yes, waiting; waiting for the house to be finished so we can move out of this dump.

Our guy has finished painting the interior of the house. The next step is flooring. I think it might be a long wait for that because our guy is going to have hip replacement surgery soon. I’m pretty sure he’s tired of being in pain and I can relate to that! I would just like for things to be done and DONE.

Our move from satellite internet to fiber optic internet is closer. On Father’s Day (of all days for them to work) the fiber optic guys came out and ran their cables outside to the house. We now wait until the next crew comes to do the inside. It shouldn’t take too long for them to drill a hole to tap into the cable in the box outside and hook up a modem. I hope my wi-fi router is compatible. It’s not very old so maybe I’ll luck out and not have to buy a new one.

It has taken me over an hour to get to this point in this post because Dad fell 3 times! He spilled a whole cup of coffee on the carpet, which is no big deal. The carpet is dirty and worn anyway and we’ll be moving soon (I hope) but I can’t leave a big, brown coffee spill without trying to clean it up. So, now that I have him situated, I’ll try to finish this.

The heat and humidity is draining every ounce of energy I have these days. I hate it. I used to love summers but that was when I lived in California. Missouri has a different kind of heat. It’s awful. I’m sweaty and sticky, uncomfortable every minute of every day. Nights are miserable, too. Who can sleep when it’s still 70+ degrees outside and nearly as warm inside? I use a wet kitchen towel to stay cool, at night and during the day. I sit under fans and sometimes the a/c. I refuse to cook anything or step outside if I don’t have to. I hate to shower because I step out of the shower and I’m sweaty and sticky all over again before I can even dry off! I can’t wait until Old Man Winter knocks on the door. The Fall is still too hot and the spiders are creeping everywhere! I’ll take Wintertime, anytime! I’m hoping to be out of this house before I have to complain about the heat again but we’ll see.

Anyway, I’m still around…sweating my ass off. I hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

What’s Eating Aunt Debbie? Or What The Hell Is Wrong With Her Now?

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Yeah, there’s always something wrong with me. I think I might go crazy…crazier, rather. Things just never seem to go smoothly for us, always something going wonky. The past month and a half is no exception.

Our car battery died, and even though we have a quick charger gadget, the battery eventually was drained completely, beyond charging. For weeks, every time we wanted to go somewhere we had to charge it up. I offered to buy a new battery when we were in town one day and Dad’s said, “I don’t even know if it’s the battery or something else.” I was thinking, If it wasn’t the battery then why does charging get it started? But what the hell do I know? I’m not a mechanic. Eventually, the battery was drained so completely that even the charging gadget wouldn’t work. We had to call AAA. That’s when Dad decided to buy a battery. Then he bitched about the cost. I just reminded him that I offered to buy it weeks ago but he declined.

Since it had rained so much a few weeks ago, work on the house slowed even slower than before. We had so much rain, several bridges and roads were destroyed or flooded over. This past week has been dry, thankfully. Still, I was so hoping to be out of this dump before the hot and humid summer. Ugh. At least the new house won’t have cracks and crevices for the spiders and other creepy crawlies to come in. Sure, we’ll get insects and arachnids occasionally in the new house but not like in this old house. You don’t dare wear clothing that you haven’t shaken out. You always check your shoes before slipping your foot inside, even if you just took them off and hour ago. You always check pots and pans before using them. You feel a tickle? You’d better check because it may not be just an itch! I could go on but I think you get the picture.

The drywall has been hung in the new house but still needs to be taped and textured. Then we have paint and flooring. The septic tank and ditches need to be done, too. Dad will run out of money sure as shit. We’ll be lucky to have any cabinets in the kitchen at all. I have a plan for the upper cabinets that will be less expensive than traditional cabinetry. I’m going to buy some good wooden cube shelving and have open cabinets. The cheapest we can do for lower cabinets is around $1,000, but that’s not counting counter tops. I’ll probably buy a buffet cabinet and we can keep dishes and silverware in that. Below are a few photos. 1) Kitchen sink area, in front of window, 2) Bathroom sink/toilet area, and 3) the living room, looking at the front door. The rooms are pretty big except I wish the kitchen was a bit bigger. Can’t win them all, I guess! I’ll show more photos as things move forward.

Every time I sit down to write, I get distracted because of Dad’s noise. Noise like farting (loudly) as he walks by me, or talking to himself whenever he’s in the room. You see, I sit at the kitchen table to use my laptop. It’s difficult staying focused, not just because of his noise and constant interruption but also because I’m trying to pay attention to what he’s doing or where he’s going. I have him trained to tell me when he goes outside. Then I have to pay attention to how long he’s beeen out there so I know whether to go looking for him. There’s a lot of stress and anxiety involved in living with, and caring for, an elder parent.

Dad fell several times in the last month and a half. No injuries aside from a couple of small bruises and minor scrapes. Gawd, he worries me.

I’m hoping that when the house is done and my sister is here, that the stress level will go down. Maybe I won’t worry so much about everything because I’ll have someone here to lighten the load. I’ll have help watching Dad, and helping him up off the floor when he falls. Maybe I’ll be able to keep up with birthdays, even if it’s just to send cards. It’s been a long time since I sent a card in the mail. I just can’t keep up. Too much on my mind. I used to write letters, too, the old-fashioned way! I’d like to get back to doing that, as well.

Oh, well. Such is the life of an increasingly aging disabled woman. I hope this post isn’t too scrambled. Haha! I may or may get to tomorrow’s Friday’s Funnies. We’ll just have to wait and see. I hope the rest of your week is fantastic!

See you next time!

Oh, The House…

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Well, crap on a cracker. We’re going to run out of money before the house is move-in ready. By move-in ready, I mean that it won’t be completely finished but it will have the necessities to live in. We weren’t sure if we’d get the entire kitchen cabinetry done but that the kitchen would be usable. Now, we’re not even sure of getting that far.

The drywall is the next step. Materials and labor are going to cost a bit over $10,000 and the septic, maybe about the same. Then there’s painting. Even with a no-frills paint color and brand, that might be as far as we can go. This is such a disappointment. We had hoped to be moving in before the hot and humid summer began but that’s not going to happen.

If only we could win the lottery. We don’t need millions of dollars, however, that would be nice. No, just an extra $40,000 or so would really help us get the house, probably finished. It’s going to take some time doing a little each month or two. Depending on the project, it might take months to save the money to do it. Ugh.

So, we need either $40,000 extra or a miracle. I don’t see either happening any time soon. It’s just so disappointing. I had been so down about the whole new-house situation and then we found a guy to do the work. My depression subsided and hope began to take over. Now, hope is slowly dissipating.

It’s difficult living in this old house. My life is a struggle the way it is. I don’t need the house making things even worse. It used to be a cute little place but in the last 10 years it has started falling apart. It was never anything fancy but it was functional and comfortable. Now, not so much.

I’ll keep y’all posted. Pray, or cross your fingers, or whatever you do, for us. We need all the help we can get.

Until next time,